State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, GPK (Belarusian: Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь, ДПК; Russian: Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь, ГПК) manages the international borders of Belarus. Its armed paramilitary force is known as the Border Guard Service (Belarusian: Пагранічны Служба Беларусі; Russian: Пограничная служба Беларуси), It carries out committee orders and policy. The service covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.[1][2]
Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь | |
Flag of the Border Guard Service | |
Emblem of the State Border Guard Service | |
Public Service overview | |
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Formed | September 20, 1991 |
Preceding Public Service | |
Jurisdiction | Armed Forces of Belarus |
Headquarters | 24 Volodarsky Street, Minsk, Belarus |
Minister responsible |
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Public Service executive |
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Child Public Service |
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Website | gpk.gov. |
History
The Border Committee was created by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus on September 20, 1991. To manage the border units and subunits, the General Directorate of the Border Troops (Russian: Главное управление пограничных войск was established by order of the Supreme Soviet on January 15, 1992 under the Council of Ministers. To create a legal basis for their activities, the Supreme Council adopted Law No. 1908-XII “On the State Border of the Republic of Belarus”, and Law No. 1911-XII “On the Border Troops of the Republic of Belarus” on November 4-5, 1992. On August 19, 1993, a law was adopted by the Council of Ministers decree on the official creation of the Border Troops of Belarus. Between 1994 and 1997, the first border units were formed/deployed and agreements were made between Belarus's neighbors on cooperation between the border troops of Belarus and neighboring countries. On 11 January 1997 President Lukashenko signed decree renaming the General Directorate to State Committee of the Border Troops. In a September 2007 decree, President Alexander Lukashenko renamed the Border Troops of Belarus to the Border Service.[3]
Tasks
Primary tasks of the State Border Committee include:[4]
- Border policy
- Enhancing border security
- Organization
- Management
The Border Service of Belarus has 14 territorial units under its control:
Structure
- Brest Border Group
- Lida Border Detachment
- Smorgon border group
- Grodno Border Group
- Gomel Border Group
- Pinsk Border Detachment
- Polotsk Border Detachment
- Mozyr Border Detachment
- OPOGK "Minsk"
- Dzerzhinsk Logistics Group
- Communications and Support Team
- Institute of Border Service
- Border Guard Military Hospital
Border Service Institute
The Border Service Institute is the official training service of the GPK and is a higher educational institution in the Republic. The institute was founded in August 1993 in accordance with a Resolution of the Council of Ministers on the basis of the Minsk Higher Military-Political-Arms School.
Leadership
General Directorate of Border Troops of the Republic of Belarus
- Yevgeny Bocharov (February 19, 1992 - August 30, 1994)
- Vasily Morkovkin (September 26, 1994 - September 4, 1996)
- Alexander Pavlovsky (September 4, 1996 - January 13, 1997)
State Committee of the Border Troops
- Alexander Pavlovsky (January 13, 1997 - April 10, 2007)
- Igor Rachkovsky (April 10, 2007 - September 27, 2007)
State Border Committee
- Igor Rachkovsky (September 27, 2007 - July 31, 2012)
- Alexander Boechko (August 2, 2012 - November 2, 2013)
- Leonid Maltsev (November 2, 2013 - December 27, 2016)
- Anatoly Lappo (December 27, 2016 - Present)
See also
- Armed Forces of Belarus
- Defence Ministry of Belarus
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus
- Visa policy of Belarus